Medical devices such as enteral feeding pumps are typically attached to an IV pole or other support member by a pole clamp or other attachment device that holds the pump in a fixed position relative to the support member. One existing pole clamp design permits one degree of freedom of motion of the pump relative to the pole by allowing the pump to be rotated or indexed between fixed orientations relative to the IV pole. The indexing requires a substantial portion of the fixture be located on the clamp. Another existing pole clamp design permits two or more degrees of freedom of motion such that the pump may be moved horizontally, vertically, or laterally relative to the IV pole for easier viewing and operation. An example is embodied in co-assigned application Ser. No. 11/138,200 entitled Flexible Clamping Apparatus for Medical Devices filed May 26, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Furthermore, such existing pole clamps are typically mounted directly on the housing of the pump so that the pump housing is in close proximity to the IV pole. As such, the pumps mounted by conventional pole clamps take up more vertical space on the IV pole that may be needed for other devices and/or medical fluid containers. These existing designs are ill-equipped for moving equipment in and out of the way at bedside as needed when providing medical care. Therefore, a need exists for a simple effective means of releasably securing a pump or similar device to a support while also allowing adjustment of the pump without releasing the pump's connection to the support.